Colon Shines In Mets Opening Day Start

When it comes to a New York Mets Opening Day, I get giddy. I know within my heart that there is NOTHING – no disrespect to a fan of any ballclub – like a Met Opening Day.

Prior to today, the Blue and Orange Brigade have the best Opening Day record in baseball with a 32-21 record. People like to make jokes and say this is the only time the Mets win and go on top of the National League East, but for the first time in a long time, today felt different. I felt like today was more of an opportunity to make a statement, especially against the ultra talented Washington Nationals.

Leading up to today’s game, it seemed as if the New York media was hell-bent on being against Matt Harvey NOT starting today. When word came down a few weeks ago that Bartolo Colon was going to make the start, the fans hissed in unison. The bottom line was simply this: Harvey, coming back from Tommy John Surgery in 2013, would have a little extra juice and anxiety to him, and for Opening Day, “the Dark Knight” would go guns a-blazing. To avoid anything from happening, the Mets went with the wily veteran who I lovingly dubbed “El Porko”.

And what a game Colon pitched! Throwing 6 innings of 1 run ball, “El Porko” had 8 strikeouts with only 86 pitches thrown. The 41 year old’s only earned run given up was a solo home run to Bryce Harper in the fourth inning. Every other aspect of Colon’s pitching performance was stunning. He even struck out the side in the fifth inning!

However, Max Scherzer for the Nats performed mightly, as well. The $210 Million Man held a no-hit bid through 5 innings and threw 8 strikeouts through 7 2/3 innings; yet, he gave up 3 runs that were UNEARNED! 2 were driven in off a Lucas Duda single in the 6th and a Travis d’Arnaud triple in the 7th. The runs were indirectly caused by TWO Ian Desmond errors in those innings. Overall, a great performance by Scherzer, but not enough to overcome Bartolo Colon and the Mets.

For every doubter of Colon’s role in the 2015 Opening Day, I think he shut people up today, and rightfully so. I’m extremely proud of what Colon did today and I think we should all thank him for another Opening Day win.

– Months ago in a piece on Buddy Carlyle for my Angry Mets Guy Blog, I felt as if he was better than a minor league contract. In fact, after his fantastic season out of the bullpen for the Mets in 2014, I made a claim that Buddy should be on the 2015 Opening Day roster. Well, after a sudden injury to Jennry Mejia while he was warming up in the bullpen for the 9th, Carlyle was thrust into an emergency 9th inning role. Once Jerry Blevins got Bryce Harper to pop out to start the inning, Carlyle got the final 2 outs to get his first career save at 37 years old. Besides the fact that Buddy didn’t opt out of his contract a few days before the season began, #43 can finally say he was a part of Mets history: a save on Opening Day. Good stuff, Mr. Carlyle. You deserve it. I believe.

– Watching Curtis Granderson lead-off today made me smile. Although he had a handful of batting first scattered throughout 2014, the Grandy Man did fantastic in that role today. He didn’t get a hit in 3 official at-bats, but he forced Scherzer to walk him twice. As long as baserunners were getting on base, it’s all that matters. Good job by #3 on that particular statistic.

– It seems to me that David Wright‘s shoulder is holding up quite well. He made some tough stops and some tough throws to first base, but it seems that the Captain is back and in full form.

I know that it’s the first of 162 games throughout the regular season, but today was something to build off of. The Mets have some serious promise and I truly think that the Spring and Summer seasons of 2015 are ready for some awesome baseball.

Jon was born in Queens and now resides in New Jersey. He is a die-hard Mets fan and believes HoJo should be in the Mets Hall of Fame. Not only is Jon a contributing writer on Legends On Deck, but he also is the founder of @HardwayHQ, host of the #TheHardwayPodcast and somewhat plays Air Hockey on http://HardwayHQ.com. You can follow Jon on Twitter @TheJonHarder